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Government Green Paper sets out a "fundamental rethink" on social housing

Government Green Paper sets out a "fundamental rethink" on social housing

The UK Government has announced a series of proposals on social housing in England. 

The measures, outlined in its Social Housing Green Paper, aim to provide tenants with greater power, hold bad practice by landlords to account and tackle the affordability issues many face in purchasing their home.

Among the proposals is a re-think on the Government’s shared ownership scheme, allowing tenants to purchase as little as 1 per cent of their property each year.

Commenting on the Green Paper, Kate Bullen, a partner at Stephensons said: 

“The government’s proposals are a welcome step in the right direction, particularly the suggested opportunity for social housing tenants to have the right to buy a certain percentage of their home every year. As it currently stands, prospective owners must be able to pay 10 per cent of the value of their home upfront, which some struggle to afford, so this will go some way to removing the financial pressures felt by many people trying to gain a foothold on the housing ladder. In theory, these plans should then provide local authorities with the opportunity to build more affordable housing stock, something many parts of the country are desperately short of. It will be interesting to see, in practice, whether tenants take advantage of these proposed schemes.”